Helmet sticker

Helmet stickers, also known as reward decals and pride stickers, are stickers that are affixed to a high school or collegefootball player's helmet. They can denote either individual or team accomplishments.

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ESPN says the practice of awarding helmet stickers is often wrongly credited to Ernie Biggs, trainer at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes.[1] They instead claim that the practice of awarding stickers began with Jim Young, former assistant coach at Miami in 1965, two years before they were used by the Buckeyes.[1]

An even earlier[when?] attribution is given to Gene Stauber, freshman coach at Nebraska (1955–1957) by head coach Pete Elliott.[2] Stauber routinely used stickers throughout his tenure as assistant coach at Illinois (1960–1970), as a 1962 photo of All-American linebacker Dick Butkus indicates.[3] The stickers stem from fighter pilots marking their planes with stickers after kills and/or successful missions.[4]